FSM - The End of An Era

About bloody time!!

Seriously, it was a good run and I'm thankful for getting all those unreleased gems out there, especially those by Williams. I wish many of them were presented more with a listening experience in mind, but it's even more imoprtant to get them out there in the first place.

Thankfully, the market is so full of specialty labels that I don't think "it's an end of an era", really. Great releases will continue to come, and Lukas will be involved in many of them.

That is a worry I share, Tim.

I was just listening to (clips of) FSM's newest release, The Space Children & The Colossus of New York (both by Nathan Van Cleave), and thought how great it sounded. Who would release something like that in the future? Intrada? Perhaps. But, it's likely that there will be titles that may have seen the light of day yesterday that now may be less likely to be released.

Perhaps with one less label the titles that are remaining to be released can be snapped up by the remaining labels. We may still see the titles we want being released, but it will just take a bit longer. Who knows.

I did think when reading Lukas' comments that perhaps FSM are a victim of their own success. Being one of the pioneer labels at the start, they were had set up deals with studios to release their music. But there were labels at the time who would not play ball and not give access to their music. That was fine, and FSM had success in releasing quality music that was quite well known. It seems today that other labels have been more fortunate in gaining access to the studios that were reluctant to give access before and now they are having their own Golden Age, releasing scores that are of great demand.

I am sure that Lukas' job has become more of a chore than a passion (for all the reasons he mentions). Now he wants to enjoy the music more but still keep his hand in.

If all my discs were not in boxes I would be looking at title after title that has given me hours and hours of enjoyment (and will continue to do so). I have nothing but gratitude for Lukas and the team at FSM for producing so many desired titles for me and many others (including some titles I had no idea I had a desire for until I heard them!)

I am looking forward to hearing what they have in store for us over the next few months.

Well put, Alan!

A sad day, one which probably reflects the economy more than anything. (I see it is not explicitly referred to in Lukas's piece.) It reminds me there are a few titles I really do have to get around to buying. The company has a rich legacy.

Keeping fingers crossed that the last two of my holy grails (Gremlins & Hook complete) get released before Lukas pulls the plug.

I don't know about HOOK ( and don't care personally but will hope it comes for your sake ) but GREMLINS is definitely coming from what I've heard? To be honest, it's not a score that overly interests me either.

That's like totally awesome news dude !!!

10 years later, and I'm still bummed that FSM ceazed their CD production. Theirs was really the only label that released old and obscure Williams. The last really old, obscure, previously unreleased Williams score that got a release was NIGHTWATCH in 2011. Well, there was PETE'N'TILLIE, which was included as a bonus on the STANLEY & IRIS expanded release, but that's not quite obscure enough for hardcore JW nuts like me. No one has really followed in FSM's footsteps since then.